NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks appeared ready to charge ahead at Monday's U.S. open, energized by merger talk in both the U.S. and Europe.

U.S. stock futures were up, indicating a higher open for the markets.

MORE ON INVESTING • Tips for everyday investors • Wanna Bet? Hedging for Dummies • How hedge funds make money now

"Looks like we've got another typical merger Monday," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. "The prevailing sentiment here is that these mergers wouldn't be talked about unless it was positive for the market and the economy."

In a busy day of deals for Wall Street, credit card company Capital One Financial Corp. (Research) said late Sunday it would buy North Fork Bancorp Inc. (Research) for about $14.6 billion in stock and cash. The completed deal would pushing the combined company into the top 10 among the nation's banks.

Newspaper publisher Knight Ridder (Research) has agreed to sell itself to smaller rival McClatchy Company (Research) for 4.5 billion in cash and stock.

And Cerberus Capital Management may be one step closer to buying GMAC, the finance arm of General Motors (Research), when a Japanese bank said it would contribute roughly $1 billion towards an estimated $11 billion bid.

Verizon (Research) has made an informal offer to British telecom operator Vodafone about acquiring Vodafone's 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless for about $40 billion, a British paper reported Sunday.

The deal would come in the wake of AT&T (Research)-Bell South (Research) merger agreement last week.

While there are no major economic reports Monday, Hogan said traders will look to several reports later this week, including retail sales and the Consumer Price Index, to gauge the nation's economic health.

Oil prices were lower. The April light crude futures contract for NYMEX eased 22 cents to $59.74 a barrel in electronic trading, while the April contract for Brent crude dipped 14 cents to $60.69.

Major markets in Asia rose Monday, buoyed by a strong U.S. jobs report Friday and steady oil prices. Major European markets also gained, helped by the Vodafone and other merger talk.

Treasury prices fell, boosting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.79 percent from 4.77 percent late Friday. The dollar was mixed, rising against the yen but falling on the euro.